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MUSIC REVIEW
Depeche Mode
"Reissue: Ultra & Exciter"
Collector's Editions CD/DVD
By Amy Steele
I had the most massive crush on Dave Gahan when I was in high school. I remember being in Florida on vacation in 1986 and constantly playing Music for the Masses on cassette. At a concert, I managed to get to the fourth row [before more vigilant security]. Good memories.
After the release of Violator, I pretty much lost touch with Depeche Mode and the music industry more or less did as well. Now here is the re-issue of 1997's Ultra and 2001's Exciter. Most of the music is new to me. Gahan's voice still melts my heart's cold spots. The ambient sounds and cool electronica mixes are there. On Ultra: "The Bottom Line" is a moody mélange. The six-minute "Sister of Night" indulges in pure trance and techno-fueled pulses. "Barrel of a Gun" surges and churns. "Home" is gorgeously lush and urgent. On Exciter, I particularly like the sultry, hypnotic "Goodnight Lovers." There's a familiarity to "Freelove" with its grooving beat and honest yearning. Both DVDs have additional tracks and live material. The Ultra DVD has commentary on when Alan Wilder left the band in 1995 [all band members speak as well as others involved with DM through the years]. Nothing particularly worth the extra money.
The power of Depeche Mode has always been in its combination of seductive tapestries of love, lust and loss and dynamic, complex arrangements as on "The Sweetest Condition" and "Shine."
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